Historical Events
- Feb 1 JS Rock, 1st African American lawyer to practise in US Supreme Court, admitted to bar
- Feb 1 US President Lincoln signs 13th Amendment of US Constitution, abolishing slavery in US; celebrated as National Freedom Day [1]
- Feb 3 Hampton Roads Peace Conference, Lincoln & Stephens reach an impasse
- Feb 4 Hawaiian Board of Education formed
Lee Commands Confederate Forces
Feb 4 Robert E. Lee is named general-in-chief of Confederate forces
- Feb 5 Battle of Hatcher's Run, Virginia (Armstrong's Mill, Dabney's Mill)
- Feb 6 2nd day of battle at Dabney's Mills (Hatcher's Run)
- Feb 8 Martin Robison Delany, 1st black major in US Army appointed during US Civil War
- Feb 12 Henry Highland Garnet becomes the 1st African American minister to preach to the US House of Representatives, he talks about the end of slavery
- Feb 17 -18] Battle of Charleston, South Carolina
- Feb 17 Columbia in South Carolina burns down during the American Civil War
- Feb 18 Battle of Fort Moultrie, SC occupied by Federals
- Feb 18 Evacuation of Charleston, South Carolina
- Feb 18 Union troops force Confederates to abandon Ft Anderson, NC
- Feb 20 Massachusetts Institute of Technology forms 1st US collegiate architectural school
- Feb 22 Battle of Wilmington, NC (Fort Anderson) occupied by Federals
- Feb 22 Tennessee adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery
- Feb 27 Civil War skirmish near Sturgeon, Missouri
Famous Birthdays
- Feb 3 Martinus Ballings, Belgian Jesuit author (Will Power) (d. 1958)
- Feb 4 Charles Bally, Swiss linguist (Le langage et la vie), born in Geneva, Switzerland (d. 1947)
- Feb 5 Harvey Worthington Loomis, American composer (Lyrics of the Red Man), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1930)
- Feb 9 Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, glaciologist and polar explorer, born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1949)
- Feb 9 Mrs Patrick Campbell [Beatrice Tanner], English actress (Pygmalion), born in London, England (d. 1940)
- Feb 12 Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish writer and poet (Young Poland), born in Ludźmierz, Galicia (d. 1940)
- Feb 19 Sven Hedin, Swedish scientist and explorer who travelled and mapped Central Asia (Central Asia Atlas), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1952)
- Feb 21 John Haden Badley, English school founder (d. 1967)
- Feb 22 Otto Modersohn, German landscape painter (Worpswede artist colony), born in Soest (d. 1943)
- Feb 23 Barney Dreyfuss, American Baseball HOF executive (owner Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-32; World Series 1909, 25), born in Freiburg, Germany (d. 1932)
- Feb 28 Arthur Symons, Welsh poet and critic (co-founder Savoy magazine), born in Milford Haven, Wales (d. 1945)
- Feb 28 Wilfred Grenfell, British medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador, born in Neston, England (d. 1940)
Famous Deaths
- Feb 6 John Pegram, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies in battle at 33
- Feb 7 John Henry Winder, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army) and provost marshal, dies at 64
- Feb 10 Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (b. 1804)
- Feb 15 Nicholas Wiseman, 1st Archbishop of Westminster (1850-65), dies at 62
- Feb 24 Edmund John Armstrong, Irish poet, dies at 23
- Feb 25 Otto Ludwig, German writer (Zwischen Himmel und Erde), dies at 47
